London announces plans for 2013 cycling festival

This week saw the announcement of the first mass participation event, to be held in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after it reopens to the public following the London 2012 Games.
The two-day cycling festival is an ambitious undertaking to kick-start an events legacy for the park and encourage more cycling in London.

On a Saturday in August 2013, a family-fun-free-ride will take around 70,000 participants passed many of the UK capital's famous landmarks.

The following day, an elite race and amateur cycle challenge will comprise a 100-mile route, which is intended to start in the Olympic Park and finish in central London. Some 35,000 riders are expected to take part.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company will also organise a full weekend of wheel-based activities on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to support the festival of cycling. They will aim to bring local communities together through events, competitions, workshops, music, food and film.

Below is a short video of the press conference to announce this Olympic legacy initiative and to call for an events delivery partner to come forward. If you can't see the video, please click here to access it on YouTube.

London's year as sporting host

As 2011 draws to a close, 2012 will truly be a year of sport for the UK capital.

But it's not only the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games that will have sports fans jumping for joy. There's a host of other sporting events planned, many of which will be held at official Olympic venues from January all the way through to Games time on 27 July.

Oympic test events and qualifiers will enable the public to experience sports ranging from gymnastics to diving whilst new fixtures for London include a Grand Sumo tournament, taking place at the Royal Albert Hall from 13-17 June.

The British Swimming Championships will take place at the Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from 3-12 March and a National Lottery Olympic Park Run will test the park's capacity for large crowds on 31 March.

High profile international events returning to London during Olympic year include an NFL clash at Wembley in October and the Heineken Cup Final at Twickenham on 19 May.

Tickets for the London Prepares series of Olympic test events can be purchased from Ticketmaster.

To download a full calendar of sporting activity in London during Olympic year, click here.

London wins bid to host 2017 Athletics World Championships

London has been chosen as the host city for the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

The International Association of Athletics Federations selected London ahead of Doha at a bid presentation in Monaco by 16 votes to 10, earlier today (Friday 11 November).

It will be the first time that the World Athletics Championships are to be held in the UK and marks the first major tournament confirmed for the Olympic Stadium post London 2012.

Speaking from Monaco, The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "Despite an excellent challenge from Doha, the London team put together a cracking bid which has paid off. With the 2017 championships now in the diary, next summer’s London Games is just the start of a long and active life for our magnificent stadium."

Over the last decade, London has transformed itself to become recognised globally as a leading city for major sporting events. Other successful bids for major sporting events post 2012 include the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, the 2013 ITU World Championship Series Triathlon Grand Final and the 2015 Canoe Slalom World Championships.

Based on the success of London 2012’s International Inspiration Project, London 2017 has revealed the international legacy programme that will now be launched following the city's successful bid to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships. 

LEAP 2017 has been designed to engage two million children in athletics across 17 developing countries over four years.

A huge congratulations to everyone involved with the successful London 2017 bid.

London's sporting legacy is put to the vote this week in Monaco

In Monaco, on 11 November, the 27-strong IAAF voting panel will decide between London and Doha as the host city for the 2017 athletics World Championships.

In October, my bosses at London & Partners hosted the evaluation committee of the world governing body for track and field, on a two-day visit to the UK capital to assess our bid to stage this prestigious event.

Whilst in town, IAAF Senior Vice-President, Bob Hersh heaped praise on London's ‘world-class’ stadium. Importantly, he also lauded the city's passion and commitment for hosting a successful World Championships.

Recognising our passion and commitment for staging major sporting events is important for London. The city takes sport seriously. It has been working hard to build a sporting legacy that goes beyond next summer’s Olympic Games and includes a £30million Sporting Legacy Fund to attract grass-roots participation into every bid secured.

London's success stories to date include securing the 2013 Triathlon World Championship Grand Final in Hyde Park and the 2015 Canoe Slalom World Championships, which was the first major event to be confirmed for an Olympic venue after the Games.

Other bids currently on the table and awaiting outcomes include a Track Cycling World Cup in 2014/15, the 2015 Hockey European Championships, the 2016 Swimming European Championships and the Table Tennis World Championships in 2017.

This year, London has hosted the Yonex BWF World Badminton Championships at Wembley Arena and one of the seven-legs of the Triathlon World Championship Series.

Individually, these two events showcased London to a far reaching global fan-base. Combined, they generated more than £5million of economic impact.

London also staged the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in May this year. A crowd of 87,695 well behaved football fans from Spain and Manchester created a carnival atmosphere that was supplemented by a week-long Champions Festival in Hyde Park.

According to a report backed by MasterCard, the football match itself was worth around £326million, which included an economic windfall for London of €52million generated through spending in restaurants, bars and at the stadium.

London’s reward for the spectacular success of the Champions League final is to host the event again in 2013. It will be a record seventh time the match has been staged in one venue.

London will also stage the 2013 UEFA Women’s Champions League final and the XXXVII Ordinary UEFA Congress in the days leading up to the final.

The UK capital appeals to the American version of football as well. On Sunday, 23 October, at Wembley Stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Chicago Bears in the last of a three-season NFL International Series game agreement.

The popularity of American Football in the UK and Europe has rocketed ever since the Giants played the Dolphins in 2007. Over half a million people applied for tickets for each of the subsequent three seasons.

London sees no reason why its association with the NFL should end here and even harbours aspirations to stage a Super Bowl final one day.

Right now though, everyone is focused on this Friday's announcement where, once-again, a committee has to decide upon a host city for a major sporting event.

According to a ‘Global Major Events - 2012 & Beyond’ survey, revealed at SportAccord back in April, a World Athletics Championships was voted the second most popular sporting event to attract consumers into London. The Greatest Show on Earth was, of course, voted top.

Let’s hope, come Friday, there’s two upcoming reasons a new generation of UK athletes can become inspired.

BT British Olympic Ball raises £700,000 for Team GB

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has confirmed that the 2011 BT British Olympic Ball, which took place last Friday (7th October) at Olympia in Kensington, raised over £700,000 for Team GB, far exceeding the fundraising target for the event.

The star-studded, sell out evening, which I attended as a guest of EC&O Venues, saw more than 2,000 guests from the world of sport and entertainment rubbing shoulders with Olympic legends and Team GB hopefuls in Olympia’s stunning Grand Hall.

In total, the winners of over 140 Olympic medals, including more than 80 gold medals, were present in the room, making it a truly unique and special celebration of British Olympic success.

Among those to walk the glittering gold carpet were three-times cycling Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins, 400m hurdles World Champion Dai Greene, triathlon world number one and two Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Olympic rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave and a host of celebrities including Downtown Abbey’s Dan Stevens, former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, model Nell McAndrew and singer Katie Melua.

HRH Princess Anne was guest of honour on the evening. An Olympian herself, the Princess Royal delivered a speech calling on the entire nation to unite in support of the greatest team Britain and Northern Ireland will ever have sent to an Olympic Games.

As part of the evening’s entertainment, guests were treated to performances by Sir Tom Jones and Tinchy Stryder. The event was produced by agency Fireball. The menu was devised by Michelin starred Executive Chef Tom Aikens.

Hosted by Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, the evening allowed guests the opportunity to bid on once in a lifetime London 2012 hospitality packages donated by Prestige Ticketing, including the chance to watch the finals sessions for track cycling in the Velodrome, swimming in the Aquatics Centre and perhaps the most coveted seats of all: the men’s 100m final.

Andy Hunt, Team GB, Chef de Mission and BOA Chief Executive said: “The 2011 BT British Olympic Ball was bigger and better than ever and we are delighted with the tremendous level of support expressed for Team GB from the 2,200 guests in attendance. Raising nearly three-quarters of a million pounds from this event is a fantastic outcome for Team GB and we are really grateful to everyone who supported and participated in the event.”

  

 

London's events legacy revealed at Beyond 2012

London’s events industry gathered at the BFI IMAX on 19 September to hear an update on legacy plans following the 2012 Olympic Games.

Three speakers representing the Mayor’s office, London & Partners and the Olympic Park Legacy Company briefed 500 delegates about the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s event spaces and the continued efforts to pitch for major sporting events beyond 2012, including the World Athletics Championships in 2017.

Clive Little, Director of Events and Programming at the Olympic Park Legacy Company said: “By 2016, we’re aiming to see more than 2,000 events held each year in the Park. The south end will have a real focus on sport and entertainment and include areas such as a 2,000sqm event lawn and possible temporary venue for exhibitions and conferences. In total, there’s potential for spaces of up to 60,000 capacity across the Park.”

Little added that the 3,500-seat Aquatic Centre could be transformed into a dry venue courtesty of rising floors which reduce the depth of water in the pool, and that the Orbit sculpture next to the Stadium could host events for up to 300 people on its viewing platforms. 

“In October, we’ll consult with the events sector and ask what they might want to do at the park so people are engaged in the plans,” Little continued. “While we’re still in the strategic planning phase, we can adapt our offer to suit the response.”

The Beyond 2012 event was hosted by Unique Venues of London, London & Partners and the International Special Events Society. 

Iain Edmondson, Head of the Major Events Team at London & Partners discussed the capital’s plans to pitch for future sporting events and congresses. Then, Dan Ritterband, Mayor Boris Johnson’s Director of Marketing confirmed that the Mayor’s Office wholeheartedly supports the work being done to bring mayor events into the capial and is working on a funding model to ensure London remains competitive with other nations. 

To hear a snippet of Dan Ritterband’s address to delegates at Beyond 2012, click here

Limited edition London: What to expect in 2012

I was asked recently to write an advertorial for a Spanish consumer travel title on what to expect in the UK capital during 2012.

Seeing as the piece is being translated into Spanish, I thought I'd reproduce it for you here in its original written language form....



It’s a magical time to be in London. As the UK capital prepares to welcome the Greatest Show on Earth in the summer of 2012, the Olympic spirit can already be felt on every corner of every street.

An electric atmosphere of celebration and togetherness is building and London invites you to come and experience the city as you've never seen it before.

Attractions, hotels, bars and restaurants are rolling out the red carpet and visitors are about to discover a host of unique experiences that will only be available in the run up to the London 2012 Games.

From September through to June, London will be awash with festivals, exhibitions and major events that will bring colour, culture and creativity to these famous streets.

Before the world’s elite sportsmen and sportswomen go for gold in the Olympic Stadium, London will first celebrate The Queen’s Jubilee. After the spectacular wedding of her grandson earlier this year, it will be the turn of Her Majesty the Queen to take centre stage as the whole country celebrates 60 years of her reign across a four-day weekend at the beginning of June.

One event that is sure to form a key highlight of the Jubilee celebrations will see The Queen lead a flotilla of 1,000 boats along the River Thames. Fireworks and music from the past six decades will accompany the procession and more than a million people will line the banks of the Thames in celebration as the flotilla sails past.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee festivities will continue throughout the year as well, marked by a series of exhibitions and events.

The National Portrait Gallery will stage The Queen: Art and Image from 17 May to 21 October whilst photographs taken by former royal photographer Cecil Beaton will be on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Visitors planning to come to London during January, April or May are also invited to book guided tours of the beautiful and opulent State Rooms at Buckingham Palace whilst The Queen takes her residency at Sandringham and Windsor.

Meanwhile, Shakespeare’s birthday, which falls on 23 April, will be celebrated by a kaleidoscope of 38 international theatre companies staging each one of William Shakespeare’s 38 plays in a different language at the world renowned Globe Theatre.

This series of plays will be the most ambitious multilingual Shakespearean project ever attempted and presents a fantastic opportunity to view Shakespeare in Spanish, at The Globe - an authentic restored theatre from the time of the Bard.

Visitors can embrace the multiculturalism that makes London one of the most diverse and fascinating cities on earth by planning a trip that includes the Chinese New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square on 29 January. Or why not plan your visit around World Pride 2012, promoting gay and lesbian issues with two weeks of festivities and cultural activities during June and July.

London’s museums and galleries (many of which are free to enter) will also be putting on a show throughout the year.

Not-to-be missed highlights will include Damien Hirst at Tate Modern from April until September, Pablo Picasso’s lifelong connection with Britain explored at Tate Britain from February to 15 July and Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, which runs at the National Gallery until 5 February 2012.

There is no doubt that 2012 will be an Olympic year for London but it also promises to serve up a host of limited edition, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that visitors won’t find anywhere else. The entirity of 2012 in London is sure to be more magical than ever before. So don’t miss out. For more information and to plan a trip, visit www.visitlondon.com